Packaging of heavy equipment and machinery such as lawn and garden tractors, riding lawn mowers, snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles, and the like, present many unique considerations. Such machinery by its nature is difficult to handle and store. The weight of the machinery requires strong enclosures for handling. The large sizes of these goods typically leads to stacking of containers one on another in warehouse storage and in trailer trucks carrying the goods from manufacturers to distributors and retailers. The containers thus need to have sufficient top loading strength to withstand the load imposed by the loaded containers held in the stacks. The package not only needs to be stackable, but also must have racking strength. Racking strength refers to the diagonal integrity of the packing to withstand the vibration and motions of shipping. The vibrations and handling tend to induce the staples of wooden crates to loosen to become detached. Screws tend to split the wood. Crates and some packages accordingly are often unable to maintain an upright stack. The pack begins to sag diagonally.
Handling of the containers by fork lift or platen truck also place loading and stress on the container. Fork lifts have extending forks that slide into a pallet for lifting the container. Clamp trucks have parallel plates or "platens" which move laterally under hydraulic pressure to squeeze the package, enabling the package to be lifted and moved about. Usually the platens are positioned to bear firmly against the base frame and a portion of the vertical cleated side wall. This lateral inward pressure may however cause the side wall to separate from the top frame.
Conventional corrugated paperboard containers are generally unsuitable for packaging heavy equipment. To provide sufficient compression strength to the pack, containers typically use wood cleats. These containers include wood cleated crates and cleat-reinforced corrugated paperboard containers, with mating rigid base and top frames. One known wood-cleated corrugated paperboard container uses six cleats to provide the stacking strength for the container, whereby multiple units can be stored one on top of another in a warehouse or shipping environment. The container comprises a tubular body formed from a sheet of corrugated paperboard scored to define four wall panels. The sheet folds on the scores and the opposing distal ends adhere together to form the tubular body. A vertical cleat is positioned on the panels for each of the corners of the container and two opposing cleats are positioned between the ends on the long sides of the container.
While the wood crates and cleat reinforced corrugated containers enclose products, there are drawbacks to their use. Occasionally, a run of a production line produces products which need minor repairs or corrections. For example, an incorrect part may have been placed in the production line and assembled into the product. In other circumstances, inspections must be made of the products to evaluate whether repairs are necessary. This requires engineers to open the containers stacked in the warehouses, examine the goods in the containers, and determine whether repairs are required. Generally, these activities involve moving the containers from the stack to a work position, opening the container, and removing the goods, for inspection and repair. The goods must then be replaced into the container, and the container closed and returned to storage. These activities are time consuming and involve significant labor.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved wood-cleated corrugated paperboard container for packaging heavy durable goods for storage and shipping. It is to such that the present invention is directed.